FASHION & STYLE
CLOTHES CAN MAKE
THE WOMAN
Costume designer Rita McGhee
shares insights to Empire characters
By VICKI BENNINGTON
Our favorite movies and television shows all begin with words on paper
that breathe the first spark of life into the cast of characters we come to
love, hate, or love to hate.
But before they become living, breathing, three-dimensional people,
another talented individual works diligently behind the scenes, adding the
“icing on the cake” in the form of costuming.
Rita McGhee, costume designer for the new Fox hit series, Empire, is one
such artist, who dresses, consults and creates and, whether we know it
or not, gives us an idea of who Cookie, Lucious, their sons, and all the
players are now, with even a hint of where they came from.
Taraji P Henson’s character - the incomparable Cookie Lyon - is known
.
for animal print dresses and luscious furs, all gathered by Rita and her
team from a variety of sources.
“Cookie has been in prison for 17 years. She comes out wanting to take
back her piece of Empire Records and has to dress the part,” Rita said.
“She is old-school hip-hop and new-school high fashion. She wears strong
colors, prints and stripes. Animal prints show her strength – like she’s
ready to pounce.”
72
And if Cookie feels like wearing a fur, she doesn’t care if it’s not cold.
She’s in a lifestyle where she can wear fur, so she’s wearing it.
Through the season, Cookie has become a bit more refined. She’s been
known to wear Yves Saint Laurent, Prada, Givenchy, Elizabeth and
James, and once, a long sequined Balmain dress.
“Taraji is so good to work with. She’s like dressing a doll,” Rita said.
“Everything looks good on her. She has so much confidence, she can pull
it all off.”
The actors contribute their feelings about the character and what they
think they would do and wear.
“It’s a process. It’s a collaborative effort of everyone working together,”
Rita said.
Gathering the clothes and accessories takes some creativity, and the
$27,000 per episode budget needs to cover the speaking cast - with
multiple changes, uniform rentals, alterations and dry cleaning. That
means the costume team hits the thrift shops, boutiques, Target, shops
online and borrows clothes when possible.
“We mix and match,” Rita said. “Cookie may have on a dress from
Target, but wear $1,000 shoes. In one show, she carried a Gucci python
purse that was worth $10,000 (it was borrowed).
“And she may top off the bargain dress with an expensive fur,” she added.
Mixing and matching in this fashion, Rita said, is something that Cookie
would do – and most women in the real world would do.
“And we have some real ‘angels’ who allow us to borrow from their own
closets,” Rita said.